A parent's view - When my eldest daughter was finally diagnosed with ME (after 3 months of doubts and tests) we were given an appointment for what was planned to be the first of many CBT sessions.

I took my daughter along and we listened and the woman stared taking notes of my daughter's history - where she was born, what she did, what she liked, what her grandmother's name was, her grandfather etc. and started saying that she was looking also for any trauma which might have occurred. I listened and kept reasonably quiet, as I wanted my daughter (then 13) to explain.

This woman then asked to speak to my daughter alone.

We came away with a feeling that this was going nowhere.

I had already examined, with my wife, all of the past and tried to see what might have caused it, was there anything that had happened, or was happening, which might affect her health.

I look back now in amazement that I even countenanced any such session for what was and is a biological illness. But, and this is something I sometimes forget, I was a new parent of an young ME sufferer and I was going with what the hospital suggested - just following through and probably still dazed by all of this.

We didn't know about ME and we were looking for anything to help.

After coming away from that first meeting we discussed with my daughter we both agreed this was not what was needed. Apart from the exhaustion she experienced in travelling there and back she felt it achieved nothing.

After all, any person with a modicum of common sense is going to analyse the situation and look for possible causes and then methods on how to deal with it. We don't need another acronym to help cope. We can do that ourselves.

We didn't repeat that experience. It was totally useless from our point of view and I had doubts on the skills or qualifications of the person giving this.

Isn't it coincidental that when they ask for 'volunteers' for money-wasters such as the PACE trials in the UK the people they want are 'new ME patients'? I.e those who have so little knowledge about ME and are probably still reeling from the sudden and devastating onset of a strange illness.

The psychiatrists really know something about manipulation.